Michael Burke: “It is a great honor to be appointed Head of the Arts and Humanities department. I have always believed that the question ‘what is humanity and where is it heading?’ is the most important query in the university today. The humanities have much to offer scientific inquiry via the disciplines of history, communication, ethics, and others. I look forward to working with my talented departmental colleagues and students in the coming three years to help put the humanities right at the center of the big technological, medical and environmental challenges of the day”.
Bert van den Brink, Dean: “Without a doubt, Michael Burke is one of the most experienced and sparkling minds in the college when it comes to understanding and innovating our teaching philosophy. He is a champion of interdisciplinary learning and teaching, undergraduate research, and a strong believer in the relevance of the Arts and Humanities to all other academic disciplines. His profile matches near perfectly the sketch that the members of the department had drawn up for the new Head of Department.
Prof. Michael Burke is full professor of Rhetoric at UCR. He served as Head of Department of the then Academic Core department (which no longer exists) from 2005 until 2012. From 2014 until 2016 he was director of research and undergraduate research. From 2016 until 2021, he was the Honors Dean of Utrecht University.